Stopping the tiger poachers

WATCH: The Bhutanese Wildlife Conservation Division offers their sincere "thanks" to Gregory Mountain Products for their kind donation of 50 backpacks in support of the ranger's mission of protecting their country's wildlife.

In the battle protecting wild tigers from extinction, rangers risk their lives to stop poachers from killing the world’s last remaining tigers. But when tiger parts--pelts, bones, teeth, even whiskers--can be sold for huge sums on the black market, hunting is alluringly profitable and hard to stop.

IFAW works with rangers, conservationists and politicians to ensure we can fight the poachers both on the ground and through legal sanction, focusing on range states: India, Russia and China. Our work includes:

Helping tiger range countries implement both their National Tiger Action Plans and the new priorities outlined in the Global Tiger Recovery Programme, adopted by national leaders at the international tiger summit in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2010.

In Russia, we successfully lobbied to increase the fine for tiger poaching from US $50 to US $20,000. Now we're trying to make possession of all tiger parts illegal.

Training and outfitting wildlife rangers on the front lines of tiger protection in key range countries including India and Russia.

Launching the Guardians of the Wild initiative, in partnership with Wildlife Trust of India, to equip and train more than 7,000 wildlife guards, a third of India’s anti-poaching force working in protected tiger habitats. With the project expanding to Bhutan and Nepal, we are now providing equipment and training to rangers in remote, high-altitude wildlife reserves in the southern Himalayas.

Supporting the most effective anti-poaching ranger team in the Russian Far East. This innovative team is patrolling the border area with China by jeep and boat, on foot, and even by air using a motorized glider, the first of its kind in Russia. The Khasan rangers undertake at least 12-18 patrols each month, at all hours of the day and night, resulting in more than 100 arrests, violation orders, criminal court cases and seizures of illegal equipment and firearms each year. [extrapolated from July-Dec 2010 Final Report from Khasan project]

Promoting cross-border cooperation by conducting bilateral trainings between Russian and Indian rangers, who share best practices about tiger conservation under the 2005 Tiger Watch Programme.

Patrolling the forests in Hunchun, China, an area totaling more than 800 square kilometers, to remove nearly 2,800 deadly snares left to kill Amur tigers, leopards and their prey. (In 2013, efforts resulted in the arrest of two poachers as well.)